


Flooded

by emblem_oracle



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Drowning imagery, Head Injury, Huddling For Warmth, Ike shows he cares, Leg Injury, M/M, Nagamas, Pre-Slash, Swept Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 20:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13326159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emblem_oracle/pseuds/emblem_oracle
Summary: Swept away from the army by water from the Talregan floodgates, Ike must try to keep both himself and an unconscious Soren alive until help arrives.





	Flooded

**Author's Note:**

  * For [path-of-rad](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=path-of-rad).



> This took forever and I'm so sorry! This could have been so much better but I hope you like it anyway, path-of-rad, as well as anyone else who may be reading this!
> 
> For Nagamas!

First the shouting. Then the crash. Then water rushing down his throat.

The Daein soldiers were determined. They'd opened the flood gates above their heads, sending waves of water crashing down like a tsunami. They shouldn't have journeyed through Talrega. Soren had warned them that Daein's tactics were harsher even than his own.

Ike wished he'd listened now.

His armour dragged him down deeper under the currents. He threw down his sword and grasped for his shoulder plates, air falling from his mouth in large bubbles. He needed to breathe. Badly. The force of the wave had stolen most of his oxygen.

He fought his way up, chest burning. The current spun him around, changing his direction and simply adding to his all-consuming need for air. His lungs burned in desperation.

He somehow managed to articulate himself enough to break the surface of the water and force as much air as he could into his mouth before being dragged under again moments later. His lungs still pleaded, unsated. His head began to buzz, like it might explode.

The water was brown and murky and debris floated within the water's depths. Wood, stone, straw… beams and farm tools, the occasional weapon. He sometimes spotted a lifeless body but he was swept away before he could even think to help. He needed to find something to support his weight, to keep him from being swept away.

The water's dirt, though, made it nigh impossible to find anything.

He scoured the water anyway, hands cracking against floating debris as he searched.

Then everything was gone. And he was falling.

* * *

 

When Ike emerged from the darkness of unconsciousness, the first question on his mind was _'Is everyone alright?'_

The water on his skin was still damp; not yet frozen. Still, it chilled him to the bone. He opened one eye and then the other; taking in the waves of snow which surrounded him and the debris scattered across the white blanket.

The snow must've broken his fall. Hopefully, he wasn't the only one spared.

He glanced around him, pushing himself into a sitting position, silently hoping to find someone; or at least something of use. Yet, there was mostly only damp straw and broken wood to keep him company. Ike scowled hard, lost for a plan.

And that's when he spotted the spillage of dark green hair across the snow.

"Soren?" Ike said slowly.

He expected Soren to shift or groan – to hiss about his head or even to mutter about their defeat, but nothing happened. He remained frozen against the ice.

Ike's throat burned with bile.

He placed his hand into the snow to push himself up when a sharp, demanding pain shot across his leg and he fell back onto the white blanket. His leg hurt horribly, and a distant memory of when he'd fallen out of a tree and sprained it as a child fell before his eyes. He pressed his hand to the source, at the crook of his knee, and pressed lightly to check. Fresh pain made him hiss.

He could move it though. Not broken then. He could work with not broken.

Still, it hurt like all heck. When the intensity of the pain began to ease a little, Ike decided against standing again and tried to pull himself to Soren's side. He grasped every patch of snow with as much strength as he could muster, ignoring the twinge which followed him every time he so much as twitched.

Soren was worse off than him. He could manage.

The moment he reached his side, Ike rested a hand on his shoulder and nudged him onto his back.

Ike considered Soren pale most of the time. Mist often griped to them both about Soren's health, something the latter would always disregard. However, this was a different sort of pale. Soren's face was tinged blue. He looked dead. Especially with the way his hair was strewn; spilt across his face and dripping wet.

Ike shook his shoulder. Nothing. Ike checked the pulse - weak and slow. Soren was almost uncomfortable to touch, with his skin somehow colder than Ike's freezing hands.

Soren needed warmth. Covered in water and out in the cold, he could freeze to death.

They could both freeze to death.

"Alright then," Ike muttered as he wrapped his arms around Soren's torso, pulling him up onto his lap. He honestly expected Soren's weight to hurt his leg more, but he was so light, it was almost like Leanne had taken his friend's place. It was honestly a little bizarre.

Soren's head tipped back, head limp against his shoulder. Ike tightened his grip a little, hoping he would be warm enough despite his damp clothes. Steam slowly spilled from his nose, brushing past Soren's cheek.

When Ike was a child, his father taught him how to survive in the wild. He'd taught him how to make a fire with sticks, and how to get safe water from rivers or snow. It'd been a while since he'd used any of those skills though. He only had hazy memories at best of his training and the adrenaline which ran through him made it difficult to focus.

He remembered that finding shelter was a priority, though. All that other stuff could wait.

It was perhaps the hardest thing he'd had to do in a long time, but he forced himself onto his feet, spitting curses and biting down tears. The throbbing came from deep in his bones and it stung with every twitch. Still, he managed to eventually get onto two legs, and lifting Soren up was almost easy in comparison.

"Okay," Ike said under his breath, as he gently slung Soren across his shoulder.

Alright. It had hurt, but Soren was on his back now. The hard bit was done. Now he just had to find somewhere to warm Soren up and wait for rescue. Surely they couldn't be the only survivors.

Or maybe they were. Who even knew whether Soren was going to make it.

Ike shook his head, throwing out the thought. They were both alive and that was good enough for now.

So, he took a step forward into the snow; resolved.

* * *

 

When Ike spotted the slight gap in the mountain wall, he could have collapsed in relief. Hours of walking, hours of pain. Soren, still not moving. He wondered what Soren would have done in his position. Probably found shelter a lot faster – he always was good at things like that – but he remained still against his back. Ike focussed his hearing on his friend's slow breathing.

He'd picked up a couple of things among the way. Things that had been tossed around by the flood. A damp cloak, thick with ice but drier than what they both wore. A bag filled with soggy bread and leaves which smelt like herbs. He stole a knife from a dead thief because the thought of carrying a sword made him feel a little bit sick and he'd even made the pained effort of picking up sticks lost in the snow.

Ike almost dropped Soren as he stumbled into the cave. His leg burned beyond imagination. How he'd kept walking was beyond him. It was probably very close to broken now. He'd limped the last quarter mile.

After carefully placing Soren against the cave wall, he fell to the ground; hard breaths making wisps in the cold weather. Holy figs, it was cold. His cloak was even going hard with frost.

Still, he'd found shelter. Soren still seemed to be alive, though the creeping paleness in his skin made him look more like a ghost than a living person. Ike pressed two fingers to his neck and tried to comfort himself with his pulse, but all he could think was that Soren's heartbeat shouldn't be so slow.

He frowned deep and reached into the bag he'd picked up, removing his assortment of sticks for the fire. He could only hope he was not too late.

* * *

 

It was hours before Soren began to show signs of improvement.

Ike sat him down before the fire and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. He'd abandoned his cloak next to the fire and had removed Soren's outer robes because of the ice which had stiffened it's edges, leaving him in his white under tunic.

Hours passed restlessly, eyes constantly flickering from Soren's closed eyes to the heat of the fire. Ike almost wanted to start pacing, or to swing a sword, but his leg and Soren's comfort forbade both.

He sat deep in thought instead; thinking about the safety of the army, his mercenaries, and the princess. He didn't know if any of them were alright. Everything felt slightly hopeless and he wished he had Mist at his side, spouting her optimism and brightening the world when it seemed dark.

That's when there was a hum, almost a whine, and Ike's heart could have leaped.

Soren opened his eyes but they were glassy and unfocussed. He stared into nothing for a moment, a rare confused crease to his brow. He then turned and faced him, gaze dropping on some place just below his chin. He swallowed. "I…Ike…?"

Soren shifted slightly, head twisting. He seemed confused and Ike couldn't really blame him for that.

"Don't move so much," Ike said. "You've been unconscious for a long time. You need to rest."

Soren groaned, pressing his injured hand to his forehead, ignoring everything he'd just said. Typical Soren. "Where… are we?" he asked.

"Don't know. Somewhere south of Talrega, probably," Ike said, hoping that would be enough to stop the onslaught of questions he knew were brewing in Soren's head. The last thing he needed was a stressed, injured Soren. "You hurt anywhere?"

Soren seemed to hesitate before answering. "…my head, mostly," he said. His eyes turned a little distant then and his head started to droop but he blinked hard, as if trying to stop himself from falling asleep. "Are you alright, Ike?"

"Yeah," Ike said, even though that wasn't entirely true. Soren would only panic, it was better if he didn't know.

Still, the answer didn't seem to calm Soren much. The crease of confusion still hadn't abandoned his expression and Ike could only imagine the questions inside his head. He had a ton of questions of his own, really, and his memory wasn't damaged at all.

Yet, when Soren spoke next, he simply said, "I'm glad you're alright."

It was an odd admittance coming from Soren, who was eternally prone to hiding his feelings. Still, it was nice to hear, even if he knew Soren cared already.

Ike offered a small smile as he said. "I'm glad you're alright too. You almost wasn't for a moment there."

"I almost… wasn't?" Soren raised a brow.

Ike hummed. "You've been unconscious for a long time. For a while, I was worried you weren't going to wake up."

"Oh. I see," Soren turned his head towards the fire, expression somewhat blank. He looked lost to Ike's eye.

Soren didn't say anything after that and not once did he question his place upon Ike's lap, nor ask where the army was or what had happened. His mind was working at a slow crawl, and Ike found he was almost glad for it. Less questions meant less stress for his friend and he really needed that right now.

Then, Soren did something strange.

He twisted himself so his cheek rested on Ike's chest and closed his eyes, pressing himself close. It was so bizarre that Ike froze for a moment, staring down at his now-sleeping friend, taken aback by how out of character it was. He was probably confused, or exhausted beyond all description.

Yet, his presence was warm. Warm against the still freezing weather.

Eventually he leaned against the cave wall and closed his eyes, exhausted yet relieved by the presence of his closest friend.

* * *

 

When Mist finally found Ike, he was still fast asleep; with Soren resting delicately on his lap. She and the rest of the army had been searching for over a day for their lost commander and tactician, whom had been among very few of their own who’d been swept of the cliff by the water. She smiled to herself, relieved for their safety but far more warmed by the tenderness in both of their faces.

She was almost reluctant to wake them up. It was rare Ike seemed so at peace, and that said nothing about Soren. With Soren snuggled against Ike's chest, it was impossible not to find the scene at least a little cute. 

If he knew she was watching, Soren would probably explode. 

So, she walked back out of the cave and called their names, waiting for them to call back before walking in. A sister had to be nice to the one her brother loves, after all. 


End file.
